X-Entertainment is still feeling pretty bad about those lobsters.
Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade Kool-Aid:
Pay close attention: Berry Blue Kool-Aid still exists. Or, at least, it's something so close to original Berry Blue Kool-Aid that I've no shame in sticking with the original claim. Boy, does it ever have a story to tell.
One of the most fascinating Kool-Aids of the more modern era was "Ice Blue," sort of the estranged, gothic cousin of the Island Twists collection. Its more official title of "Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade" clues us in that the flavor still exists. It's now just a regular Kool-Aid Twists flavor, sans islands, and they've de-emphasized the awesome "Ice Blue" portion of the title, putting the first two words on equal footing with the last two words. And the package art isn't as cool. Despite these gripes, the still-in-stores version of Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade is, as best I can tell, exactly the same as the Island Twists original. Friends, this is the flavor that inherited Berry Blue's kingdom.
That might strike you as odd, because any walk down the correct supermarket aisle proves that Kraft still makes a Berry Blue flavor, emphasis on the "a" not being a "the." The new Berry Blue is definitely not the original reincarnate; outside of being a "blue Kool-Aid," it ain't even from the same lineage. This is confirmed by me and a few other readers who put two and blue together. Of those with the revelation, an even fewer number have stumbled upon the whole truth: Berry Blue isn't Berry Blue, but Ice Blue is. Got it? Goooooooood.
As a current part of the "Twists" sector, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade is just another number. As part of the more elite "Island Twists" branch, Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade enjoyed a brief few moments as the ultimate Kool-Aid flavor -- the one kids put on a pedestal, and the one kids used in conjunction with metal bowls full of boiling water to turn themselves into hardcore genuine punk fucking rockers. Finding "raspberry lemonade" as one of the more endearing fake fruit flavors on the market, I've long been impressed with the package art's ability to make it seem less like sugar and more like the farm fresh tryst of real lemons and real blueberries. If you think of it that way, you get so hungry.
Further evidencing its connection to the original Berry Blue, Ice Blue's powder is nearly white, only able to part with its inner blue wonder with the addition of holy water. The color is remarkable. While admitting that I achieved a slightly brighter tint when reviewing the original Berry Blue, it's worth noting that nearly twenty years of age can do strange things to Kool-Aid. It's closer to original Berry Blue than new Berry Blue is, that's for sure.
Of course, then there's the whole issue of original Berry Blue's package art also featuring real lemon and real blueberries. If you still had doubts, I hope you've shoved 'em up you ass now. For the Kool-Aid noob uneducated to our suave, slick and lady-luring ways, they might not quite understand why this is a big deal. Here goes: Berry Blue was one of the first Kool-Aid flavors to get the ultimate marketing push, and by that I don't just mean, "the flavor had its own commercial." It had a whole campaign. Everything from full-page comic book ads to giveaways in popular cereal boxes. It was one of the first Kool-Aids that we could go beyond just liking, and actually rally behind. Nobody understood how something so chic and pop could've been eliminated from the market, leading to such legends as original Berry Blue looking too similar to windshield wiper fluid for Kraft to sell it. The fact that it's back, even under a new name, and even maybe not 100% the way it used to be, is news so big I'm tempted to take out a billboard for a cause that won't profit me.
Ice Blue shares its father's flavor: It's neither insanely great or insanely bad, existing more as an inoffensive alternative for people who like drinking blue beverages but hate the blue beverage norm of tasting like electric honey. Blueberries and lemons compliment each other well enough, and the fact that you get to down mugs of shit that looks like poison transforms Ice Blue -- in either its Island Twists or Regular Twists form -- from just another Kool-Aid to something more crazy ass metaphysical. Bazap.
